Hydrogen-powered bicycles launched in France

A
French start-up has become the first company to start factory production of
hydrogen-powered bicycles for use in corporate or municipal fleets, Reuters
report.

Pragma
Industries, which is based in Biarritz, France and makes fuel cells for
military use, has sold some 60 hydrogen-powered bikes to French municipalities
including Saint Lo, Cherbourg, Chambery and Bayonne.

At about
7,500 euros per bike, and at least 30,000 euros for a charging station, the
bikes are too expensive for the consumer market, but Pragma is working to cut
that to 5,000 euros, which would bring their price in line with premium
electric bikes.

“Many
others have made hydrogen bike prototypes, but we are the first to move to
series production,” said founder and chief executive Pierre Forte.

The
firm’s Alpha bike runs for about 100 km (62 miles) on a two-litre tank of
hydrogen, a range similar to an electric bike, but a refill takes only minutes
while e-bikes take hours to charge. One kilo of hydrogen holds about 600 times
more energy than a one-kilo lithium battery.

Pragma
also sells refueling stations that produce hydrogen through the electrolysis of
water as well cheaper tank-based stations.

The
bikes, which look and ride the same as any normal bicycle, are aimed at
bike-rental operators, delivery companies, and municipal or corporate bicycle
fleets with intensive usage.

Pragma,
which produced 100 hydrogen bikes last year, plans to manufacture 150 this
year. It has received demand from Norway, the United States, Spain, Italy and
Germany, Forte said.

With
bike’s range limited by the size of the hydrogen tank, Pragma is also working
on a bike that will convert plain water into hydrogen aboard the bike, using a
chemical reaction between water and aluminum or magnesium powder to produce
hydrogen gas.

“In the
next two-three years we want to enter the consumer market and massively
increase the scale of our operations,” said Forte.